At my wits end - Action and buzzing

[vanhalen5150]

If your moving up the neck and its buzzing, its not the nut. Only on open notes. Sounds like the bridge is not set correctly for the neck radius.

[YMI5150?]

agreed.

I usually troubleshoot this way. if the buzzing happens closer to the nut, its the truss rod. if it buzzes closer to the bridge, its the neck angle. it should be pretty straightforward to rule out the truss rod adjustment.

is it a single or dual action truss rod? i ask because if its vintage single action, just because you loosen it doesnt mean the neck changed its arc. this cold weather makes it tough.

[pleximanic]

Neck jig , Leveling File, strait edge ,Dual-grit Diamond Fret File and a fret rocker is great tools if you want perfect action!
I have with these tools achieved a action of 1 mm at the twelfth fret without the slightest string rattle !

[rgorke]

So, here is a list of have to's:

neck off to level the frets?

Neck HAS to be dead straight

Neck pocket must be straight and flat.

What else?

[YMI5150?]

unless you think you may have leveled the frets with tension in the truss rod, you may be able to skip that.

it sounds like a setup issue since you're getting buzzing over most of the neck.

check the saddle radius to make sure it matches the neck.
tune and check your tuss rod adjustment as described above
verify the neck pocket is clean. strings are low so look for something in the back of the pocket that would tilt the neck down.
if its still off, raise each saddle to get the correct height.

[vanhalen5150]

Pics.

[rgorke]

I'll try and get some pics up tonight.

I am thinking of throwing the older neck I had on the guitar back on to see if that has the same problems and/or rechecking the neck pocket. I am thinking the problem is there.

[rgorke]

I took the neck off and looked very closely at the neck pocket. Here is what I discovered. This is a late '70s Strat body that I repaired when the neck got snapped off and trashed the neck pocket. What happened is some glue oozed out into and onto the pocket itself creating an unlevel surface. With just about 10 mins with a dremel sanding it off and then I put the neck back in, a huge improvement.

What I am noticing now is that, as I may have mentioned before, the frets on this neck are super jumbo huge. I am use to smaller more vintagey frets. Some of it is coming down to how I play and how much pressure I put on the fretboard to fret a note.

I think there is still a great deal of improvement but I am headed in the right direction. I still get a bit of a chime not quite a buzz but a chime just sort of a harmonic, if that makes sense.

I think I also need a small protractor or something to ensure the neck pocket is square and level.

Anyhoo, thanks for your input. It is nice getting some positive results.

Here is a picture of what I started with a couple years ago.

[YMI5150?]

ummm, I can see where the issues might have been coming from...wow!

glad its improving!

[vanhalen5150]

I can't see why that would cause an issue.

[rgorke]

Yes, it caused the neck to tilt back ever so slightly. It is amazing how 1000ths of an inch can cause problems.

[vanhalen5150]

I'm building a kayak this summer. That would have made a great paddle.

[rgorke]

The thing is is that this guitar body sounds better than any of my others. Maybe it has to do with it being over 30 years old. but it sustains like no other. I also have a Callaham bridge in this one too.

[vanhalen5150]

Looks like it's 2 different types of wood.

[rgorke]

Looks like it's 2 different types of wood.

Ya know, I never noticed that. Looks like the grain is "wider" or "bigger" by the lower horn. I took it into a hard wood specialty shop here in town and they said it was ash and made me a couple of blocks that I put in. I can take a pic of the repair. Seems to be holding up nicely with lots of glue...evidently too much glue.